Fromaing for Facts

Froma Harrop's most recent column shows how those in favor of human cloning and embryonic stem cell research will use myths, lies and strawmen to discard the arguments of those of us who are against human cloning and human embryonic stem cell research.

Everything's up to date in Kansas City -- except for some of the people. Each year, a suburban state senator presents a bill that would make creating cells for embryonic stem-cell research a felony in Missouri.

Those backwards Missourian luddites! They have a state senator who wants to ban human cloning! The audacity! The caveman that is sponsoring this legislation has 5 well-thought out and researched columns on cloning which shows that he has probably forgotten more about the subject of human cloning than Harrop has ever learned.

By "creating cells for embryonic stem-cell research," Harrop really means creating cloned human embryos and then killing those cloned human embryos for their stem cells.

Some "pro-life" activists oppose this work because it destroys embryos. We're talking about a few cells in a lab dish.

Actually, we're talking about a small living human being. Most proponents of embryonic stem cell research or research cloning can't even try to take the claims of those against these things seriously. It's much easier for them to say that human embryos are just cells or blobs of tissue than actually make a case for why it should be legal to intentionally kill some human beings with the vague hope of curing another.

Stowers President Bill Neaves vows not to put a spade in the ground until he gets a commitment: The state legislature must end the annual ritual of demonizing the research.

That means no more bills criminalizing therapeutic cloning, which provides the needed cells. Stowers prefers the term "somatic cell nuclear transfer." (Say "cloning," and some people think it's about reproducing human beings.)

Of course he prefers that term. Only a small percentage of people actually knows what it means. It's much easier to get people to go along with a certain kind of unethical research if they don't know what's actually going on.

As a matter of fact "therapeutic cloning" (I've still yet to hear about one human being who's received therapy from human cloning) is about reproducing human beings. A tiny cloned human being must be created for researchers to obtain their stem cells.

An extreme brand of abortion politics threatens to empty the heartland of advanced biotech research. And it's not just radical proposals, like making therapeutic cloning a felony. It's also the attitude -- laws singling out embryonic-stem-cell research as somehow morally suspect.

To Harrop, advanced biotech research = cloning for research and embryonic stem cell research. She is probably completely unaware of all the other advanced biotech research that doesn't necessitate the death of embryonic human beings or all the great scientists who are actually curing people with adult stem cells. I'm getting so tired of this absurd "brain drain" myth where all the top scientists in the U.S. will leave if our government doesn't provide billions of dollars to embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. Harrop later on says "several" scientists have left and then names only one.

Notice the catch words "extreme" and "radical." Harrop makes no attempt to actually show how banning human cloning (something that the UN passed a non-binding resolution on and has been banned in those conservative countries of Germany, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Canada, and France) is "radical." It's much easier for her to use insulting words than to actually prove her case. Her only attempt to let her readers see the position of prolifers was in the brief two sentences where she admits this research destroys embryos but then undermines that view completely by call them a "few cells."

Also, notice how Harrop condemns prolifers for their attitude and how they try to influence government because they believe embryonic stem cell research is morally wrong while never noticing her attitude and how she and other proponents of embryonic stem cell research try to influence government because she has no moral qualms with killing human embryos for research. She's concluded that prolifers are morally wrong because they've made the conclusion that cloning and killing human embryos for research is morally wrong.

Froma concludes her ignorant rant with this:

The heartland majority needs to confront its anti-science militants. In this world, scientists can write their own tickets. If they write one for the coasts, leaders who indulged the radicals will have only themselves to blame.

That's right. Everybody against cloning human beings and then killing human beings for research is a radical anti-science militant. Wow! It seems that facts and logical arguments are burnt toast for those in favor of cloning human beings for research while name calling and pseudo-science is the soup du jour.